TIPPING POINT NEPAL Phase 1 Evaluation Findings - CARE
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TIPPING POINT NEPAL Phase 1 Evaluation Findings
CARE Gender Justice
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................ 3
ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
SECTION I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 7
SECTION II: EVALUATION APPROACH AND METHODS ....................................................................................... 9
PROJECT MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING OVERVIEW ........................................................... 9
ENDLINE EVALUATION ............................................................................................................................... 10
METHODS ................................................................................................................................................... 10
CHANGE ANALYSES..................................................................................................................................... 12
SECTION III: EVALUATION FINDINGS ................................................................................................................ 13
1. REPLANTING THE FUTURE, GROWING SKILLS AND DREAMS: ADOLESCENT GIRLS .............................. 14
2. TODAY’S BROTHERS, TOMORROW’S HUSBANDS: ADOLESCENT BOYS ................................................ 22
3. BETTER LISTENERS, BETTER SUPPORT: PARENTS OF ADOLESCENTS .................................................... 26
3. SHIFTING SOIL, WIDER PATHS: SOCIAL NORMS .................................................................................... 29
4. GATHERING ALLIES, BUILDING NETWORKS: PARTNERS AND ADVOCACY ............................................ 34
5. INSPIRING CHANGE, BEING CHANGE: PROJECT STAFF ......................................................................... 37
CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 40
SECTION IV: PROGRAMMING AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................. 41
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GIRLS’ EMPOWERMENT AND SOCIAL NORMS PROGRAMMING ADDRESSING CEFM
.................................................................................................................................................................... 41
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................... 43
ANNEX I: MOST IMPACTFUL ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................ 45
ANNEX II: PREDOMINANT SOCIAL NORMS ........................................................................................................ 48
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................................... 50
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CARE Gender Justice ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was written by Becca Smith and Carol Boender with guidance and input from Nidal Karim. Elizabeth Brezovich from CARE USA provided significant technical inputs and managed the evaluation process. The external team that carried out the FGD/KII/IDI qualitative data collection was led by Becca Smith and included Anita Ghimire, Bipana Sharma, Amit Raj Shrestha, and Shrijana Deo. The work could not have been completed without the CARE/DSDC/SSS qualitative data collection team special thanks to Dhana Khumari Chaudhary and Sangita Chaurasiya for their leadership of the two data collection teams and to Sachharam Harijan, Anita Shremal, Akalmati Pal, and Ajay Kumar Mishara for their excellent work during data collection. Thank you to Rajan Subedi, Shikha Sunuwar, and Karuna Magar from CARE for their data collection work as well as contributions during preparation, training, and fieldwork. Thank you to Dipendra Sharma, Minakshi Neupane and DSDC and SSS Field Facilitators for their support with sampling and respondent recruitment. In addition to the data gathered by the teams above, this report also draws upon other primary data and analyses that were gathered as part of the evaluation process including Outcome Mapping analyses carried out by Julia Zimmerman and a Photovoice component led by Robyne Hayes. The entire evaluation process would not have been possible without the exceptional support provided by CARE Nepal, CARE USA, and staff of the local partner organizations in Nepal, Dalit Social Development Committee (DSDC) and Siddhartha Samudayik Samaj (SSS). Lastly, a tremendous thank you to all the respondents who participated in focus group discussions, workshops, and interviews for welcoming the evaluation teams into their communities, giving their time, and sharing their thoughts and experiences with us during the evaluation. ACRONYMS CPA Community Participatory Analysis DSDC Dalit Social Development Committee FGD Focus group discussion SSS Siddhartha Samudayik Samaj VCPC Village Child Protection Committee VDC Village Development Committee Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 3
CARE Gender Justice
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Phase 1 of CARE’s Tipping Point project addressed child marriage through a dynamic process
of innovation, insight, and influence in two districts of Nepal in partnership with Siddhartha
Samudayik Samaj (SSS) and Dalit Social Development Centre (DSDC). In its first phase, the project
promoted girls’ rights and choices regarding marriage in 16 communities using complementary
approaches with collectives of girls, boys, and parents, who regularly participated in meetings, and
advocacy events to raise public awareness and promote gender-equitable social norms. The project
also engaged allies and potential champions for girls’ rights, including government and civil society,
to help drive social change and direct more resources towards girls’ empowerment in project
communities.
At the conclusion of Phase 1, an external evaluation team visited project sites in Kapilvastu and
Rupandehi to conduct qualitative data collection with girls, boys, parents, and community members.
The evaluation team’s findings indicate that Tipping Point’s iterative and adaptive strategies have
contributed to several changes in the lives of girls, the actions of parents and community members
to support girls, and social norms that promote gender equity. Among the results:
• Girls demonstrated growth in their communication and negotiation skills, personal aspirations,
and practical knowledge. Notably, girls demonstrated increased reflection and understanding of
themselves and their desires and aspirations for their futures, in a context where girls are not
commonly encouraged to have thoughts about the course of their lives. Similarly, girls’
expectations for marriage and the ideal age of marriage evolved into wanting a later marriage,
with simultaneous gauna,1 to a man who will share daily household chores. Through life skills
education, girls gained skills in self-advocacy: there were many examples of girls asserting their
rights with family members over important life events, such as marriage, and smaller matters like
time to socialize. Sexuality education increased girls’ knowledge of sexual and reproductive
health, especially in menstrual hygiene management but also family planning. Tipping Point also
supported livelihood skills development in some areas. Lastly, girls took on visible roles leading
and organizing community events that challenged traditional gender roles and supported girls’
rights.
• Boys grew into better brothers for their sisters and started to think critically about their place
in a family. The most notable change among boys was a new appreciation of women’s traditional
duties in the home like cooking, sewing, and washing clothes. Through group exercises to map
girls’ and boys’ use of time, public competitions for boys in cooking and sewing, and other project
activities, boys came to understand that their sisters had a greater burden of labor and that it was
skilled labor. They began taking on more household work to allow sisters to study and relax and
advocated for them with parents. Boys also advocated for girls in their communities by
participating in street dramas about child marriage, dowry violence, and other issues, and joining
1
Gauna refers to the consummation of marriage within the Hindu religion, in the Southern belt of Nepal. Once a
young girl is married, she will continue to live with her parents until after menarche. On the day of her gauna, her
conjugal life begins, and she joins her husband’s family household.
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girls in girls’ other advocacy work. When it came to their own marriages, boys wanted to marry
later than their older peers, but they showed varied levels of change in the qualities they desired
in a future marriage.
• Parents demonstrated a greater commitment to their daughters’ educations and defended
girls’ rights to be active citizens. Parents grew increasingly supportive of sending their daughters
to school and prioritized school attendance over household work. There were many cases of girls
returning to school, sometimes facilitated by scholarships awarded through the project. Parents
also indicated that they had begun to give more value to a girl’s ability to be self-reliant, make
decisions for herself, and play a role in the community. Related to these changes, adolescents
and parents alike reported better communication with each other.
• Government and civil society agencies collaborated with the project. Tipping Point built
relationships with local agencies and actors, some of whom were already strong advocates for
girls, such as Village Child Protection Committees (VCPCs), and others who sometimes opposed
more equitable social norms for girls. Some religious leaders, for example, were active with the
project and sought closer collaboration, while some rejected the project’s messages.
Government groups were increasingly responsive as they came to know the project and its
mission, and some Village Development Committees (VDC) funded sports equipment and
community meeting spaces for adolescents. School Management Committees in some locations
started providing menstrual pads and changing facilities for girls, which improved girls’ school
attendance.
• Tipping Point project staff found themselves thinking in new ways and doing things they never
imagined. Because local staff were the faces of Tipping Point, the project prioritized fostering
their own personal transformation on issues of gender and power. Through workshops and
personal reflections, staff internalized a critical awareness of the role of gender in their lives and
discovered new capabilities in leading personal and social change. Despite challenges, staff
reported pride in tackling tough issues like sexuality education with communities.
• Key social norms that restrict girls’ opportunities and autonomy loosened slightly. Adolescent
girls who participated in Tipping Point activities realized the biggest change in their families’ and
communities’ expectations of them as compared to girls who did not join Tipping Point groups.
Members of Tipping Point groups gained greater freedom to move around their village, ride
bicycles, play sports outdoors, work with boys to organize community events, and express their
opinions. Still, there was some normative diffusion from the project outward into communities,
so that, for example, friends of boys in Tipping Point groups were more likely to say that they
planned to share household work with their future wives. Girls faced social approbation through
gossip and criticism of their non-traditional behaviors, but with the support of parents and each
other, they largely disregarded it, demonstrating resilience in the face of sanctions for behavior
outside the norm. There were also potential signs that economic considerations that families
make in the process of marrying children may be shifting. Parents provided new justifications for
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CARE Gender Justice
delaying marriage based on reducing ceremonial costs and lower dowry prices when girls are
educated or earning an income.
In just a few years, Tipping Point has made significant progress in mobilizing advocates for girls’
rights and in shifting social norms related to child marriage in Nepal. It is difficult to measure the
impact of Tipping Point on the frequency of child marriage itself, but there were many stories of
marriages averted through the intervention of parents, boys, and girls involved with the project or
in conjunction with local groups like the VCPC.
The successes of Tipping Point to date have not fully overcome the many barriers girls continue to
face in realizing their potential and achieving agency in key life decisions. However, there are
successes that hold promise for the Tipping Point approach to social norm change and girls’
empowerment. Tipping Point is unique in its active engagement of boys as brothers and future
husbands, and the transformation of boys into advocates for girls is a surprising result that deserves
attention. In addition, the project piloted new ways of operationalizing social norm change work,
with programming according to a set of Social Norms Programming principles that include focusing
on positive messages about girls rather than the negative outcomes of child marriage.2 Tipping Point
also deployed innovative ways of measuring social norms and normative change, based on CARE’s
SNAP framework,3 which can inform academic and program design thinking.
As the project enters its second phase, key goals will be to build upon the strong results achieved
within the core girls’, boys’, and parents’ groups to deepen the process of social norm change
throughout communities. The project’s model of diffusion, whereby group members engage
intensively with the project and become community role models in inspiring social norm change, has
worked to an extent but is uneven, requiring more effort to reach and make a difference to more
marginalized groups such as girls who remain out of school. Strengthening networks of supporters
will also increase the resonance of project messaging and will encourage more allies to take action
and drive resources to girls. Like-minded religious leaders represent an opportunity for the project
to expand its message’s reach beyond the current project sites. Finally, in Phase 1, the potential of
income generation to delay marriages of adolescent girls was not fully explored, and girls will benefit
from more financial literacy and livelihood skills.
2
Social Norms Innovation Briefs. CARE Tipping Point. Retrieved from https://caretippingpoint.org/innovation/
3 Stefanik, L.; Hwang, T. (2017). CARE’s Journey Piloting Social Norms Measures for Gender Programming [PDF file]. Retrieved
from http://gender.care2share.wikispaces.net/file/view/care-social-norms-paper-web.pdf
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CARE Gender Justice SECTION I: INTRODUCTION Phase 1 of CARE’s Tipping Point project addressed root causes of child early and forced marriage (CEFM) through a dynamic process of innovation, insight, and influence in Nepal and Bangladesh, two countries with high rates of CEFM. The project focused on identifying the root causes of child marriage and facilitated innovative strategies to create alternative paths for adolescent girls. As a learning and innovation initiative, the full project is expected to contribute to the global understanding of the complex issues driving child marriage and different strategies that can foster a “tipping point” of sustainable change to prevent child marriage and create viable alternative paths for adolescent girls. The legal age of marriage in Nepal is 20 years for both males and females. Despite this, the most recent data on child marriage rates show that 10% of women aged 20-24 were married by age 15 and 37% by age 18. Both girls and boys can be subject to child marriage, although boys on average marry four years later than girls.4 A unique aspect of child marriage practices in Nepal is the tradition of gauna. Gauna refers to the consummation of marriage within the Hindu religion, in the Southern belt of Nepal. Once a young girl is married, she will continue to live with her parents until after menarche. On the day of her gauna, her conjugal life begins, and she joins her husband’s family household. The amount of time between marriage and gauna varies depending on the girl’s age and usually lasts between one and five years. Phase 1 of Tipping Point (2013-2017) focused on engaging adolescent girls, boys, parents, and community leaders in 16 villages where CEFM is common. This engagement occurred across two districts in partnership with Siddhartha Samudayik Samaj (SSS) and Dalit Social Development Centre (DSDC). Tipping Point’s vision of change in Phase 1 was five-fold: build the agency of adolescents; change adolescents’ relationships with key adults, particularly parents; transform social norms; and grow networks for collective action and influence. Personal change among project staff provides a foundation for change (Figure 1). Accordingly, the Phase 1 programming worked to create spaces for dialogue between adolescents, parents, and the broader community, deepen awareness for gender equity and rights, promote positive gender equitable norms, and encourage networking. Project activities varied across villages but were built on collective groups formed by the project. Each village had an adolescent girls’ group, an adolescent boys’ group, and a parents’ group, facilitated by staff and volunteers. Groups participated in trainings and facilitated discussions on life skills, gender, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, and engaged in creative processes to organize community events to spur discussion and advocate for social change. 4Ministry of Health, Nepal; New ERA; and ICF (2017). Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016. Kathmandu, Nepal: Ministry of Health, Nepal. Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 7
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Figure 1. Theory of Change
In Phase 1, the project reached approximately 1,400 adolescents and parents who were intensively
engaged in collective groups, which are detailed in Table 1.
Table 1. Numbers of Tipping Point Collective Group Participants
Group Group members
Girls 621
Boys 367
Mothers 279
Fathers 124
TOTAL 1,391
Section II of this report includes a discussion of Tipping Point’s approach to monitoring, evaluation,
and learning, the primary evaluation questions, methods used and process of analysis. Section III
presents evaluation findings in six key outcome areas for the project: changes experienced by girls,
boys, and parents, respectively; shifts in gender discriminatory social norms; building networks of
allies for girls’ rights; and staff transformation. Section IV provides a set of recommendations for
girls’ empowerment and social norms programming and details a set of policy implications for
government actors. Annex I describes the project activities that participants deemed to be most
impactful in their communities. Annex II displays a summary of key social norms in project
communities, acceptable exceptions to them, and sanctions for breaking them.
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SECTION II: EVALUATION APPROACH AND METHODS
PROJECT MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING OVERVIEW
The monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) approach for Phase 1 of Tipping Point (Figure 2)
builds on developmental evaluation5 and feminist evaluation6 principles – which, together, facilitate
innovation and prioritize learning.
Figure 2. Monitoring, evaluation and learning approach
5 According to Patton (2010), developmental evaluation “supports innovation development to guide adaptation to emergent
and dynamic realities in complex environments. Innovations can take the form of new projects, programs, products,
organizational changes, policy reforms, and system interventions [...] Complex environments for social interventions and
innovations are those in which what to do to solve problems is uncertain and key stakeholders are in conflict about how to
proceed."
6 Podems and Negroustoueva (2016) stated that “Feminist evaluation puts the voice of women and girls at the centre of
knowledge generation for the purpose of achieving more equitable social outcomes and dismantling structural and systemic
forms of gender-based discrimination. It is a way of thinking about evaluation rather than being a prescribed set of methods,
but often draws upon qualitative and participatory approaches to advance social justice through inclusive and reflective
practice.”
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At the project’s start in 2014, Tipping Point conducted a Community Participatory Analysis (CPA) to
deepen understanding of the contextual factors and root causes driving the prevalence of child
marriage in the two programming districts of the Terai region in Nepal.7 The project subsequently
utilized Outcome Mapping 8 as its core monitoring, reflection, and learning tool.
ENDLINE EVALUATION
For the endline evaluation, the project utilized a combination of qualitative methods to explore
changes in three areas related to the Phase 1 programming in Nepal:
1. What expected and unexpected changes can be observed within the project communities in
relation to core Tipping Point objectives? Were the changes meaningful and relevant for
people?
2. What was the relationship between Tipping Point processes, approaches and activities and
the changes observed? Did project activities contribute to these changes?
3. To what extent have there been changes in staff reflecting upon and taking up values,
practices and action that model anti-oppression and reflect critically on beliefs about
sexuality?
Note that as a qualitative assessment, the evaluation did not seek to quantify the average age of
marriage or changes in the rate of married girls and boys in project communities. 9 However, the
qualitative methods used captured several stories of child marriages being averted or delayed as a
result of project activities.
METHODS
This qualitative evaluation drew upon multiple methods for assessing the project’s contributions to
changes at community and individual levels.
1. Photovoice
The first component of the evaluation used Photovoice10 to explore the changes that adolescent
boys and girls who had participated in Tipping Point programming perceived in their
communities. In Photovoice, participants were taught basic photography and asked to document
changes in their lives. They then returned to the group to discuss the significance of the images
they took and what issues they represented. Photovoice was conducted with two groups of
7
Tipping Point project (2016). The cultural context of child marriage in Nepal and Bangladesh. Findings from CARE’s Tipping
Point Project Community Participatory Analysis [PDF file]. Retrieved from
https://www.care.org/sites/default/files/documents/CARE_Tipping_Point_External Report_Web.pdf
8 According to Smutylo (2005), outcome mapping is a methodology for planning, monitoring and evaluating development
initiatives that aim to bring about social change. The process of outcome mapping helps a project team or program to be specific
about the actors it targets, the changes it expects to see and the strategies it employs.
9 The evaluation team reviewed household mapping data to determine if any conclusions could be drawn about rates of child
marriage, but more detailed data and analysis is required to understand the extent and nature of adolescents’ migration in and
out of project wards during the project.
10
Wang, C., & Burris, M. (1997). Photovoice: concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health
Education & Behavior, 24 (3). Retrieved from: http://heb.sagepub.com/content/24/3/369
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 10CARE Gender Justice
adolescent girls and one group of boys from two Tipping Point communities. Each group had 11
participants (see Table 2), and the average age of participants was 14-16 years old.11 Among the
girls who participated, four were married.
“This is a photograph of Tipping Point participants with
CARE staff at the girls’ group meeting place. This photo is
important because ladies from different places came to
teach us about photography. We learned and can use the
skill whenever we get the opportunity. I like this photo,
because I didn’t know how to use a camera, but you came
and taught us. If I didn’t know but had a camera, I would
not do it. But now I know and can do it.”
Adolescent girl, age 17
2. Focus group discussions and interviews
The second component of the evaluation took place in five of the communities where Tipping
Point worked. This component consisted of focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth
interviews. Table 2 shows the number of FGDs and interviews completed with individuals who
participated in Tipping Point collective groups, and individuals who had not.
Table 2. Number of Photovoice participants, FGDs, and in-depth interviews
Tipping Point group members and staff Non-Tipping Point group members
Community
Tipping Religious
Girls Boys Parents Girls Boys Parents and district
Point staff leaders
leaders
Photovoice 22 11
FGDs 7 5 4 3 2 2 4 2
Interviews 2 1 2 2 4
The evaluation was also informed by two other methods of analysis: Outcome Mapping12 change
stories recorded by project teams over 14 months as part of the project monitoring and reflection
system; and CARE’s Social Norms Analysis Plot (SNAP) 13 framework used to conceptualize and assess
progress made towards reducing the prevalence of gender discriminatory social norms. The
Outcome Mapping monitoring and reflection system consists of change stories about notable events
witnessed by staff in project communities. These stories demonstrated a person’s behavior related
to the project’s desired outcomes and goals. CARE’s SNAP framework was utilized as a tool to
differentiate empirical expectations (what I think others do) and normative expectations (what I
11 Photovoice. CARE Tipping Point. Retrieved from https://caretippingpoint.org/about-photovoice/
12 Tipping Point project (2018). Tipping Point Phase 1 Outcome Mapping report. Retrieved from
https://caretippingpoint.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Phase1_OutcomeMapping.pdf
13 Stefanik, L.; Hwang, T. (2017). CARE’s Journey Piloting Social Norms Measures for Gender Programming [PDF file]. Retrieved
from http://gender.care2share.wikispaces.net/file/view/care-social-norms-paper-web.pdf
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 11CARE Gender Justice
think others expect me to do). It also explores dimensions of social norms that can indicate how they
might be shifting or loosening, namely, social sanctions for transgressing norms, such as gossip,
isolation, or ridicule, and exceptions under which a person might transgress norms without being
sanctioned. A reduction in sanctions or an expansion of the exceptions to the norm suggests a norm
undergoing change. Additionally, not all individuals are equally sensitive to the effects of social
sanctions; empowerment programs can bolster people’s confidence or resolve to act contrary to
dominant norms despite sanctions. The SNAP framework informed the evaluation interview
questions and the tools used to explore social norm change in FGDs relating to the rights of
adolescent girls specifically and processes of marriage generally.
CHANGE ANALYSES
The evaluation compared the data from the CPA in 2014 with endline data. In particular, two focus
group discussion (FGD) exercises from the CPA were replicated:
1) Visioning exercise—This exercise was conducted to explore the dreams and aspirations of
adolescents, paying attention to the barriers and facilitators to those dreams.
2) Risks & benefits—This exercise sought to understand parents’ perceptions of the risks and
benefits of child marriage versus delaying marriage, with special focus on girls. Findings from
the risks and benefits exercises relate to changes in what parents consider when making
decisions about their daughters’ marriages.
The analysis also compared the data from FGDs with Tipping Point group members with FGD data
from community members that had not joined Tipping Point groups, to see if exposure to project
activities made a difference to individuals’ attitudes, skills, expectations, and behaviors. The
evaluation team triangulated the findings from the FGDs and interviews with Outcome Mapping
change stories and Photovoice results to draw conclusions about the project’s impact.
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 12CARE Gender Justice SECTION III: EVALUATION FINDINGS Tipping Point set out an ambitious agenda for a roughly three-year-long Phase 1, to engage with multiple layers of the world around adolescent girls, along with girls themselves. At the end of this first phase, girls experienced personal growth in their psychosocial skills and practical knowledge, from knowing how to sew menstrual pads to negotiating with parents for the right to play outdoors. Boys grew into better brothers for their sisters and started to think critically about their place in a family. Parents found a greater commitment to their daughters’ educations and defended girls’ rights to be active citizens. Government and civil society agencies have moved a step closer to Tipping Point as potential partners. Tipping Point project staff found themselves thinking in new ways and doing things they never imagined they could do. Finally, a few key social norms that restrict girls’ opportunities and autonomy have opened up in some circumstances. This section lays out the key findings of the evaluation regarding the project’s contribution to the following five outcomes: 1(a): Girls have critical awareness of gender and rights, and strengthen confidence, skills, and social capital for making progressive choices in their lives; and 1(b): boys reflect critically on how society’s expectations of “what it means to be men” affect their lives and relationships; advocate for their own rights to freedom of choice in life, specifically about marriage and education; and become role models for gender-equitable values and behaviors 2: Parents value the voices, opinions and aspirations of adolescent girls 3: Social norms related to marriage (dowry expectations, perceptions of girls’ potential, and perceptions of marital relationships that promote hegemonic masculinity and ignore girls’ rights) are changing to be more supportive of girls and against early marriage 4: Networks, solidarity groups and organizations collaborate together (laterally and vertically) to take actions for girls 5: Staff continue to reflect upon and take up value practices and actions that model anti- oppression (based on gender, caste and other group identities) and reflect critically on their beliefs about sexuality Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 13
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1. REPLANTING THE FUTURE, GROWING SKILLS AND DREAMS: ADOLESCENT GIRLS
OUTCOME 1(a): Girls have a critical awareness
of gender and rights, and strengthened
confidence, skills, and social capital for making
progressive choices in their lives.
Key findings
• Girls understand they have the right to dream
and are better able to express their visions of
the future
• Girls’ ideal age of marriage (and gauna) has
risen
• Girls gained skills in advocating for themselves
and others “A girl is going to school. This photo is important
• Girls gained practical knowledge in menstrual because her parents were planning to marry her,
but she talked with her parents and said that she
management and livelihood skills wants to study.”
• Girls engaged in collective action to influence
their communities and local leaders Adolescent boy, age 14
Adolescent girl groups were a cornerstone of Phase 1 of Tipping Point. The project teams established
safe spaces in project sites where adolescent groups meet to socialize, discuss issues, gain new
competencies, support one another, and plan community action. Girls’ groups met regularly, led by
a volunteer facilitator and a partner NGO staff member, and supported by CARE staff. A group had
on average 17 members ranging in age from ages 10 to 18 with most girls age 13 to 15. Roughly half
of the group members were members of traditionally excluded castes, predominantly Dalit.
The evaluation showed that important changes in girls’ expectations for the future and their
psychosocial skills related to confidence and assertiveness took place. They also gained practical
skills in several areas and discovered the power of collective action over the course of the project.
Girls understand they have the right to dream and are better able to express their visions of the
future
At the time of the Community Participatory Analysis (CPA), which serves as a baseline point, girls
were asked to draw pictures of their visions of the future and what they hoped their lives would be
like as adults. In some villages, there were few girls who were able to articulate their dreams beyond
getting married. In other places, girls had an easier time expressing their wishes for the future in
terms of education, occupation, and family life but largely could not conceive of the steps required
to reach those goals.
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 14CARE Gender Justice
In the evaluation FGDs, the visioning exercise was repeated. Common themes across members of
Tipping Point groups were a desire to provide a service to their community through future work and
the importance of education in being able to do so. They described wanting to pursue occupations
such as nursing, teaching, tailoring, or becoming a police officer. Members of Tipping Point girls’
groups said that after participating in the project, they were able to speak more confidently
about their aspirations for the future and reported that the project had helped them to
develop hopes and dreams that they felt they could achieve. In one village, they said that Tipping
Point had influenced their visions of the future and what they perceived as possible in their lives.
“This is the picture of a girl in my group. She studies
hard, does household work, and feeds everybody.
Then she goes to study […] if you can study, [and]
pass your higher education then you can get good
jobs.”
Adolescent girl, age 14
Other girls said they knew what they wanted for their futures before Tipping Point but that
group activities helped them understand what they needed to achieve the future they wanted.
Girls said that they started sharing their dreams with their parents and that they now felt that it was
normal for girls to have goals for themselves in life. For example, one girls’ group member asserted:
“There has been a drastic change. We had no idea how to dream or think about ourselves, but
since the start of Tipping Point and its activities, we have realized that we also have a say in
our own lives.”
There were some differences in the results for this area by age and group participation. Older group
members’ responses differed from younger girls and girls who had not participated in the project in
two ways: a desire to achieve higher levels of education (at least higher secondary, some saying up
to bachelor’s and master’s degrees); and wanting to be role models in promoting social justice and
education in their communities. Some girls were specific about wanting to be involved in
activities that work to end domestic violence and child marriage as adults. Others stressed
having enough education to stand on their own, i.e., achieve financial independence, and be
examples to people who did not believe in the value of girls’ education.
When asked about what they wanted in their future spouses, there were contrasts in some villages
between the girls in Tipping Point groups, who wanted husbands to share household chores, and
girls who had not participated in Tipping Point groups, who wanted to maintain the traditional
gendered division of labor within the household. The girls who had not attended group sessions
saw it as emasculating and shameful for men to do work in the home.
The barriers to achieving their dreams that girls said they faced included social approbation, distance
to schools, and lack of family or financial support. Among girls in Tipping Point groups, two
barriers were mentioned much less frequently in the evaluation FGDs than in the CPA
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 15CARE Gender Justice sessions: girls’ freedom of movement within the community and the burden of household duties. This suggests some improvement in girls’ mobility and sharing of household work by brothers and other family members over the course of the project. Girls’ ideal age of marriage (and gauna) has risen Girls who had participated in Tipping Point and those who had not gave similar answers to questions about when they would like to marry, with most saying ages between 18 to 24 would be ideal. At the time of the CPA, girls’ ideal age of marriage averaged around 20. Due to differences in the methodologies, it is not possible to compare these sets of findings statistically; however, qualitatively, the change seems to suggest that older ages of marriage are becoming more desirable for girls. Most of the Tipping Point participants were confident that their wishes to delay marriage would be respected by their families to an extent; that is, many of them predicted that they would end up being married a couple of years before their ideal age but much later than today’s young women, who largely married between the ages of 12 and 16. Data from other evaluation respondents (parents and key stakeholders) and Outcome Mapping also suggest that the expected length of time between marriage and gauna is shortening; many girl respondents in evaluation FGDs said they expected their marriage and gauna to happen at the same time and that this was preferable to them. Although this data reflects positive change in girls’ ideal and expected ages of marriage, girls agreed that even when they are consulted about their wishes in marriage, ultimately, their parents and families get the final say in when and whom they marry. In one village, it remained shameful for girls to even have an opinion about their marriage. For the places where girls reported change, they were not clear why girls’ expectations changed: because girls had gained confidence in their own self- efficacy, because parents became more understanding of their daughters’ desires and/or the importance of education, or because there is a broader trend in society towards later marriage and shortened periods to gauna. Later sections of this report will use data to suggest that it was a combination of these factors. Girls gained skills in advocating for themselves and others There is strong evidence that girls are gaining skills to effectively advocate for themselves . Members of Tipping Point girls’ groups were excited and proud to share the positive changes that their participation in the project brought to their lives. They said what they learned about gender and rights helped them feel empowered. Through participation in group sessions, girls gained a range of skills in negotiation, goal setting, communications, leadership, and teamwork. One of the most important changes for Tipping Point girls was finding a voice within their families and communities to advocate for themselves and express their opinions and wishes. It can take a great deal of courage for a girl to speak up because a girl’s consent to marry, and indeed her opinion of when, whom, and if to marry, is rarely sought out when a marriage is arranged. There were several examples in FGDs and in Outcome Mapping stories of girls advocating within their own families to continue their education and delay marriage. For example, a 19-year-old Tipping Point participant was able to persuade her father to put off her marriage after she heard that it was being planned for her. Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 16
CARE Gender Justice
Girls spoke out on each other’s’ behalf as well. There were several Outcome Mapping stories of girls
advocating for each other to stay in school . Most involved members of girls’ groups, often
accompanied by adults from the parents’ group and/or local committees working on violence or
child protection, visiting a girl’s home after her withdrawal from school. These interventions appear
largely effective at convincing families to support a girl’s return to schooling, and girls enrolled or re-
enrolled in schools in at least eight different villages. Another way that Tipping Point girls’ groups
supported other children’s education is by participating in school enrollment campaigns to register
students.
A few girls emerged as leaders in advocating for girls’ rights. One girl, in addition to convincing
her family to delay her own marriage, spoke directly with another girl’s parents to stop her friend’s
marriage and help the girl re-enroll in school. Within her own family, she convinced her father not
to demand dowry for her brother’s wedding after speaking with him about the negative
consequences of the practice. She also committed to becoming economically independent and to
not giving dowry when she gets married. According to her,
“I gained this knowledge and ability to speak up only after getting involved in this [Tipping
Point] group […] In the beginning, I could not speak up in my family and in society, but now I
can.”
In another instance, one Photovoice participant described how she helped another girl register for
school when she was turned away:
“She went to enroll on Friday but returned home
without doing it because the school closed for a half-
day. She told me that she could not register her name
because the man there said, ‘today it is already done,
and registration will not be done anymore.’ Then I told
her to come with me and that I would do her
registration, and so I went with her and did it.”
Adolescent girl, age 11
Adolescent girls need skills in self-advocacy not just for the big life decisions such as marriage and
education but also to win greater freedoms in day-to-day activities. Another Photovoice participant
shared a new understanding of her rights in terms of free time and physical activity:
“Earlier we could not go out of the house. And I was a
drop-out. But since I joined the program, I joined the
school […] since the program, there is equality, and I
have time to go out of the house, go to school, and even
play football.
There is a change, that ladies can play; we are more
physically active, and now we are healthier.”
Adolescent girl, age 16
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 17CARE Gender Justice
Data also suggests that girls have become more aware of their potential to play a role in shaping
their own lives, and that expressing oneself, taking a stand on something, and putting in hard
work are worthwhile and admirable. At the time of the CPA, ‘hard work’ was not raised as an
enabling factor for achieving dreams. However, by the time of the evaluation, girls both in and out
of Tipping Point groups pointed to the contribution of their own hard work, suggesting a growing
belief that they can influence the course of their lives.
A 16-year-old Photovoice participant depicted her personal growth in self-expression with a photo
of a tree. When asked what the picture meant to her, she explained:
“I could not talk to my parents at home. They used to say, I
gave birth to you, you are smaller than me, and you cannot
talk back to me […] I compare myself to that tree. It just
stands there saying nothing, just as I stood saying nothing
[...] I am showing [in this photo], this is how I was not able
to talk, but I am now.”
Another Photovoice participant expressed her admiration for the assertiveness of a member of her
girls’ group, showing that she values confidence and boldness:
“This is the photo of a girl in my group […] she does not fear
anybody. She walks boldly, she is not shy with anybody and
she speaks confidently to all.”
Adolescent girl, age 11
Girls engaged in collective action to influence their communities and local leaders
Besides advocating for individual girls at risk of school dropout or marriage, adolescent girls in
Tipping Point groups were active at community levels to create enabling environments for their
empowerment. Nearly half of the Outcome Mapping change stories related to girls taking action and
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 18CARE Gender Justice
speaking out in the community. Often these activities were done in conjunction with boys’ groups
and parents' groups, strengthening girls’ networks and social capital. Collective actions included:
• Community rallies against child marriage • Elocution competitions for girls
• Football and cycling competitions • Quizzes on girls’ rights and Knowledge Fairs
• Exposure visits outside the communities • Community dialogues about girls’ rights
• Hygiene awareness campaigns • Home visits to share messaging
• Vital registration campaigns • Requesting funds from local administration for sports
• Raksha Bandhan and Teej festival celebrations • Attendance at national Girl Summit
• Cooking competitions for men and boys • School enrollment campaigns
• Street dramas about child marriage and dowry • Requesting menstrual pads at schools
‘School enrolment campaign at Kapilvastu The girls and boys group jointly organized the
School enrolment campaigns were prioritized in Hand washing session at Chhotkiramnagar in
each community. Adolescent’s girls and boys High School Narainapur.
organized a rally with the close collaboration of
schools and ward member of village municipality.
Girls and Boys group conducting a speech The adolescent girls participated in a public
competition at Thumhawa Piprahawa. hearing at Sammarimai Rural municipality
office. This program was organized by NCE
Nepal in coordination with CARE Nepal
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 19CARE Gender Justice
Girls took leadership roles in organizing, preparing, and facilitating public events. According to
Outcome Mapping stories and FGD participants, these activities contributed to changing
community perceptions and social expectations. The public events provided education and
entertainment, while at the same time allowing adolescents to exercise emerging skills and gain
visibility in their communities. Rallies against child marriage with community dialogues were
particularly successful in engaging community members and shifting people’s attitudes toward child
marriage. In some villages, intergenerational dialogues were organized by girls’ and boys’ groups to
discuss issues with parents, the Village Child Protection Committee (VCPC), religious leaders, teachers,
governmental officials, and police. An adult member of the VCPC explained:
“The rally against child marriage has done great work. It has raised awareness among children and
their parents. Now parents are aware of the disadvantages related to child marriage, they know the
possible future harms, and this has reduced the incidence of child marriage.”
However, this person echoed the comments of girls in FGDs in adding:
“The best thing about Tipping Point is parents' involvement, as no change is possible by children only.”
The involvement of trusted adults gave the girls’ actions legitimacy and reduced any potential harm to
girls’ reputations from working alongside boys, expressing opinions in public, and being visible agents of
change in their communities. Girls felt that their collective action efforts were only successful with the
support and active involvement of the parents’ groups.
Some Tipping Point adolescent girls’ groups were also successful in advocating to local
government. In three villages, adolescents were invited to participate in the village’s annual agenda and
planning sessions. In one of these sites, adolescents organized a rally for cleanliness and sanitation in
coordination with their Village Development Committee (VDC). In another village, twenty-seven
adolescent girls participated in an annual VDC meeting where they could share their concerns and ask
members to address issues related to child marriage and girls’ empowerment.
Girls involved in Tipping Point also found room for activism at their schools. In some locations, the girls
asked for sanitary pads in schools, and the school met their request. At one school, adolescent girls
began conducting and performing their own songs on social issues such as child marriage and school
enrollment. They sang once a month during school extracurricular time, giving girls the opportunity to
take on leadership roles with their peers and communicate in a creative way with their community.
Finally, adolescents took on leadership roles in other issues of societal cohesion and equality. Caste
discrimination is very common in Nepal. In one village, adolescent group members organized a picnic to
challenge caste discrimination in their community. During the event, people from all castes cooked and
ate together.
Girls gained practical knowledge in menstrual management and livelihood skills
Besides increasing their psychosocial skills, girls gained practical knowledge for better health and
livelihoods. Members of Tipping Point girls’ groups in some communities valued learning skills for
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 20CARE Gender Justice
menstrual management, alongside education about reproductive and sexual health, family
planning, and sexuality. Body mapping exercises taught them that there is no shame in menstruation,
and, in at least one village, girls learned how to make their own menstrual pads from local materials.
There were reports that mothers had started asking their daughters to share their new knowledge on
menstrual hygiene. Outcome Mapping change stories from eight villages described similar positive
developments about menstrual hygiene and management. One girls’ group member shared:
“I was happy to learn those things in the group that I could not learn in grade 10, for example,
knowing about menstruation.”
Better menstrual hygiene in combination with more support from schools meant that girls missed fewer
days of school while menstruating, as explained in this Photovoice comment:
“This is a photograph of sanitary pads. We learned to
prepare it and use it. Earlier, we didn’t know what a
sanitary pad was. Since the discussions started, we
were told what it was. I didn’t give much attention to
it. But I learned how to make it, so now I make it and
use it […] I bought this, but I can make them myself
to use. Earlier we used to use cloth, and we would
have health issues, but now we can use this. Earlier
when we had periods, we were not allowed to go to
school. But now we can use sanitary pads and go to
school. And even in the school we have the provision
to change the pads. Earlier we could not touch the
food or cook the food. But now we can.”
Adolescent girl, age 16
Tipping Point supported livelihoods training, either directly or through partner organizations, for girls
that had left school and could not or did not want to return. Several girls, married and unmarried,
started earning income through tailoring, cobbling, and vegetable cultivation. Adolescent group
participants also learned basic computer skills from an instructor sponsored by the project. Having these
new capabilities, especially in skills that many others in their communities do not have, was a source of
pride for Tipping Point girls.
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 21CARE Gender Justice
2. TODAY’S BROTHERS, TOMORROW’S HUSBANDS: ADOLESCENT BOYS
OUTCOME 1(b): Boys reflect critically on how society’s expectations of
“what it means to be men” affect their lives and relationships; boys
advocate for their own rights to freedom of choice in life, specifically about
marriage and education; and become role models for gender-equitable
values and behaviors.
Key findings
• Boys gained critical awareness of gender inequities and started sharing
household responsibilities
• Boys advocated for girls personally and collectively
• Boys’ aspirations for marriage showed limited change
“A boy is washing clothes at home. This photo is
important because the boy is helping his mother in
washing clothes. Earlier boys did not help in
household work, but since the boys have joined
[Tipping Point group] discussions, they have started
helping at home.”
Adolescent girl, age 16
Tipping Point sees adolescent boys as important actors in achieving gender equality and ensuring girls’
rights are fulfilled. Boys are also constrained by strict gender roles and norms, and many of them will
become husbands and fathers to women and girls. In project areas, boys are also often married before
they turn 18. Tipping Point organized groups of adolescent boys to discuss gender, relationships, and
other important topics, and to support girls’ efforts to make their communities more gender equitable.
The evaluation process confirmed that Tipping Point contributed to shifts in the burden of household
labor and brothers’ support of their sisters and other girls in their communities. Boys’ expectations for
future marriages showed limited change as well.
Boys gained critical awareness of gender inequities and sharing household responsibilities
Stories from Outcome Mapping pointed to the influence of sessions in adolescent boys’ groups that
illustrate inequitable distribution of routine household work. These sessions included pile-sorting of
routine activities of girls and boys, clock exercises that explore the daily schedules of girls versus boys,
and gender and sex discussions. All of these helped to increase boys’ understanding of gender roles and
inequities. The most widely reported change was that boys’ group members came to realize how
much housework their mothers and sisters were doing, prompting these boys to start helping with
household responsibilities. Defying traditional notions of gender roles, boys’ group members
recognized that contributing to household chores meant that their sisters would benefit from
having more time to study and do homework.
Tipping Point | Nepal External Evaluation Report 22CARE Gender Justice
Besides boys’ group discussions, Tipping Point sponsored public events that highlighted boys and men
engaging in work traditionally done by women only. Particularly influential in changing people’s thinking
were public cooking competitions for men and boys. These competitions were entertaining for the entire
community, creating an environment in which it was acceptable and encouraged for males to take on
traditionally female roles. Boy participants in Tipping Point groups reported that they had never
realized how much skill is required in the work their sisters and mothers did in the home, until they
themselves had to perform the same work. Many of the Photovoice photographs were of men and
boys cooking, cleaning, or washing clothes. In the image below, a boy Photovoice participant had
someone take his photo helping his mother and described the photo.
“Me, in my mother’s shop. Helping my
mother. This picture is important because I
help my mother whenever she needs help.”
Adolescent boy, age 15
Girls noted these changes in FGDs and Photovoice stories as well. A 16-year-old girl said:
“Earlier it was just the ladies who used to do the work. We didn’t have time to go to school, do the
homework or free time for ourselves. But now since they help, we get to go to school and do
housework together. Now we have time to go do things for ourselves, to do things we like, like
football and computer.”
However, quotes from participants in FGDs and Photovoice treated men and boys doing
housework as helping women and girls, rather than fulfilling an equal responsibility for tasks , and
several girls in the Photovoice exercise expressed struggles with managing domestic duties and school
work. On the other hand, as reported in the section on adolescent girls, girls no longer listed the burden
of housework among barriers to achieving their dreams, as they did at the time of the CPA.
There are mixed results depending on which Tipping Point village the participants live, suggesting that
the project had a greater impact in some villages than others in terms of changing boys’ behavior. This
might be explained by social networks and the diffusion of ideas. Boys who did not join Tipping Point
boy’s groups in one village knew of project activities and had been invited to at least one community-
wide event, but the boys’ group members had not shared any other information with them. In another
village, the non-member boys knew the Tipping Point group members as friends and reported that
they had talked to them about child marriage, gender-based violence, and dowry. These boys saw
Tipping Point boys’ group members as role models and said they would like to help their future
wives with housework. Ideas of gender equality in household division of labor seemed to have spread
from Tipping Point’s work through the boys’ friendships.
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